Should Luke Walton play LaVar Ball 1-on-1? Michael Rapaport thinks so

The Los Angeles Lakers have already quashed any concerns about Luke Walton’s job security in light of LaVar Ball’s public criticism. But if the Big Baller Brand CEO starts barking about Lonzo Ball’s NBA coach again, Michael Rapaport, an actor and media personality who’s long been a Ball family detractor, has a simple solution for Walton: challenge LaVar on the court.

“If I was Luke Walton, I would be like, invite him to the Lakers gym, I’m going ot play him 1-on-1,” Rapaport said on FOX Sports 1’s “In the Zone with Chris Broussard.” “We’ll put it all on Twitter. We can live broadcast it. And if he beats me, matter of fact, if he scores a point on me, he can take over the coaching reins. If he doesn’t score a point, he can shut his mouth up.”

Rapaport also recommended that Walton be “rude and disrespectful” whenever he’s asked about the Ballfather from here on out, and that he try to cop his Twitter and Instagram accounts in order to “put a muzzle effect on him.”

In truth, LaVar rarely uses his social-media accounts for anything other than promoting the Big Baller Brand, making other business-related announcements and sharing some shine with his sons. Most of the amplification of the Big Baller’s boasts comes courtesy of major media outlets like ESPN and Bleacher Report (and, maybe, sometimes, just occasionally, Lonzo Wire).

That said, Rapaport’s persistent slams stem from much more than just the style of LaVar’s comments. He once again questioned the Father of Balls’ basketball acumen (“This ain’t Chino Hills.”), wondered about the precedent that’s now been set for “the next generations of friends, parents, cousins, sisters, mothers” to “start saying outrageous stuff” for business reasons, and expressed concern about LaVar’s own “addiction” to fame.

“Right now, LaVar Ball is strung out on those microphones,” Rapaport said.

Hopefully, LaVar’s sequestration in Lithuania will give him an opportunity to wean himself off the cameras and mics so that when he returns to Southern California, he’ll be of sound mind and body to match up with Walton on the hardwood.